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R/P-52
Bottom Sediment Erodibility in Northern Chesapeake Bay
Principal Investigator:
Lawrence P. SanfordStart/End Year:
2002 - 2003Institution:
Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental ScienceCo-Principal Investigator:
Jerome P.-Y. Maa, Virginia Institute of Marine Science; Jeffrey C. Cornwell, Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental ScienceTopic(s):
- Ecosystems and Restoration
Description:
Carry out an exploratory study of bottom sediment erodibility in the muddy northern half of Chesapeake Bay. Compare and evaluate two state-of-the-art techniques for measuring erodibility to ensure high data quality and to investigate potential differences in results. Analyze the data in the context of a newly developed erosion formulation that allows application of results for numerical sediment transport modeling and accounts for a potentially limited supply of erodible sediment. Relate seasonal and spatial changes in erodibility to environmental factors such as grain size distribution, sediment water content, recent sedimentation rate, biological activity, and water quality.
Funding Start Year
2002
Funding End Year
2003
Related Publications:
Sanford, LP. 2006. Uncertainties in sediment erodibility estimates due to a lack of standards for experimental protocols and data interpretation. Integrated environmental assessment and management2(1):29 -34. doi:10.1897/1551-3793(2006)2[29:UISEED]2.0.CO;2. UM-SG-RS-2006-09 .
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Featured Fellow
Nina Santos
Nina Santos is a Ph.D. student at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. For her dissertation, she is focused on small shrimp-like crustaceans called mysids – an understudied yet important part of many estuarine and coastal food webs.
Featured Research Project
Developing a habitat model for mysids, an important link in Chesapeake Bay food webs
Mysids are important mesozooplankton prey for many species of fish in Chesapeake Bay and are an important link in transferring energy from lower to upper trophic levels. Mysids also serve as biological vectors for benthic-pelagic coupling due to their diel vertical migration and omnivorous prey-switching behavior, which makes mysids important regulators of food web architecture. Despite their central role in coastal food webs, surprisingly little is known about mysid ecology and dynamics in Chesapeake Bay.
